01.05.2025
Kyiv
Utility scams
Muromets Island: from a natural treasure to a corruption scheme of Klitschko and Zozulya
Klitschko’s advisor, Yuriy Zozulya, is selling hectares of land “for individual gardening” on Muromets Island for a modest price of $3000 per hundred square meters, while indicating “the possibility of buying up to 40 hectares.” Such announcements are already actively circulating online, demonstrating that Kyiv’s once communal land, which was supposed to be used for public needs, has passed into the private hands of Klitschko’s entourage. We wonder how and on what legal basis Zozulya managed to privatize the island’s hectares and why he is now selling them off so shamelessly, without fear of questions and public outrage.
Here is an analysis of what has happened to the territory of Muromets Island and why we should not expect a reaction from Mayor Klitschko.
How Muromets’ land gradually passed into private hands
On October 30, 2015, the Kyiv City State Administration entered into the Investment Agreement No. 050-13/i/155 between the Department of Economics and Investments, the Department of Culture and Innovative Sports Park LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, the company was transferred 36 hectares of land on Muromets Island in Desnianskyi district to create a sports park within the Druzhby Narodiv Park of Culture and Recreation.
The key detail is that the land was transferred free of charge, without rent. The only payment made by the company for almost 10 years of use amounted to UAH 1.2 million, a meager sum for such a territory. For comparison, the market value of leasing similar land in Kyiv can reach tens of millions of hryvnias annually.
Innovative Sports Park LLC was created specifically for the X-Park project by people close to the mayor: Yuriy Zozulia, an advisor to Vitali Klitschko and a former business partner of the mayor’s brother, and Oleh Lysiuk, CEO of Kyivvodokanal, a company with ties to Yanukovych and the Party of Regions.
These individuals used their positions and connections to Klitschko to gain access to municipal land and turn it into a source of profit.
What was promised to Kyiv residents?
According to the investment agreement, the island was to have a sports park with prefabricated structures, without capital structures. The legislation prohibited the construction of foundations so that the site could be returned to its original state in a day if necessary. The project was supposed to attract investment, create sports infrastructure, and preserve the natural landscape.
What did we get in return?
Liquor stores, bars and restaurants instead of sports grounds. Capital buildings that are rented out for 15-20 thousand UAH per month per facility. Destruction of natural vegetation and violation of environmental laws. Illegal seizure of territory, including the lands of the All-Ukrainian Park of Fighters for Freedom and Independence of Ukraine, as well as plots belonging to Kyivavtodor and the Municipal Enterprise of the Desnianskyi District of Kyivzelenbud.
According to estimates, the annual income of Zozulya, Lysiuk and their partners from their activities on the island is UAH 50-00 million. At the same time, Kyiv’s budget loses huge amounts of money due to the free use of municipal land.
At the same time, for 10 years, the KCSA has not conducted a single inspection of the activities of Innovative Sports Park LLC. And yet, the State Bureau of Investigation has launched a pre-trial investigation into abuses on the island. And in 2022, the park and the Department of Culture of the KCSA were searched, but since then there have been no investigative actions or procedural decisions.
According to our materials, the Desnianskyi District Prosecutor’s Office registered the information in the URPI under No. 42024000000001172 with signs of a criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 197-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the DBR in Kyiv registered the URPI No. 62024100110000215 under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. However, as we can see, there has been no further response.
Environmental disaster and violation of the law
It is worth noting that Muromets Island is not only municipal land, but also a unique natural center of the capital. However, its development has led to serious consequences, such as the destruction of vegetation during the construction of bars and restaurants.
In fact, the island was supposed to become a tourist and sports center, but instead it became a symbol of corruption. Kyiv residents who visit Muromets often complain about clutter, noise from liquor stores, and the lack of the promised sports infrastructure.
And as we can see, the territory is still being distributed among the mayor’s entourage, leaving nothing in municipal ownership. Soon, Zozulya will sell the next hectares, where hotels and restaurants will be built, and he will put the profit in his own pocket, despite the fact that he received the land for free.
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